January 7. Separation, righteousness & loving our enemies

Readings: Genesis 13:1-15:6, Ps 5:7-12, Prov 1:17-19, Matt 5:33- 6:4

Genesis

Abram & Lot separate. God's blessing upon them had been so great that they both had great wealth & possessions, so much so that it was causing strife amongst them. How true this still is today, some people are never seemingly satisfied even with the vast amounts they do have.
So there is an agreed separation of the land and they go their separate ways. There are various examples of groups or people going different ways to avoid the strife which seems to be building up. Perhaps this is God's mercy & plan to ensure that His will is carried out. We have so many denominations in this country, but yet generally the church is in a poor state. I'm not really well up on the history of most denominations & maybe God was in their foundation originally but when they evolve into something which separates from the main body of Christ they will never be effective.
13:10-11 Lot sees the land of the plain of Jordan & how attractive it looks. He turns his back on the promised land unaware of the dangers which lurked there. Often something worldly can look very attractive but in reality an attractive outside hides an evil inside.
13:14-17 God's promise to Abram. He could see & walk in the land of his inheritance but the promise to make his decedents as vast as dust would have to be believed by faith. Jesus was promised the lost as his inheritance. Around our church is the land but we have to believe in His power & seek to do His will for the inheritance. I've heard of a number of pastors who now have big churches, who started off with very few. But they preached, eyes closed, as though their church was full. This is faithful vision, not wishful thinking.
Chapter 14
After Lot is taken captive & then rescued by Abram, we see that God is given the glory for the victory. However in v 21, the temptation of the spoils of war was put before Abram, but Abram was faithful to the commitment made to God. It is easy to see something else other than God as our provider. God wants to be our provider, we need to be careful where our provisions come from & who is doing the offering.
Chapter 15
Here God repeats His promise to Abram to make his descendants vast in number, but Abram has doubts from a human perspective but Abram had trust in the Lord. (See Selwyn Hughes's thoughts on this.

Psalm
v10 Here is the Psalmists enthusiasm for God's cause & I often find the language strong but all the same tempting to use ourselves sometimes! Yet the psalmist has not got the entire revelation, he has not seen God's grace in action!
v11&12 It's wonderful when we give God control!

Prov
Those who are greedy for more,gained at whatever cost will be their own downfall. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the who world, and loses his own soul?" Matt 16:26

Matthew
v33-37 This throws into question whether we should swear an oath in a court for an example. But that would actually make it that Jesus is adding a rule. What He is actually doing is saying that whatever we say is binding. The suggestion is that there are times where an oath was not kept. As Christians we should be above reproach & thoroughly trustworthy.
v38-48 The cost of true love. Jesus challenges the religious leaders with their various rules. He was here to show His Father's love which is extravagant & far reaching. That we should love our enemies really flies in the face of our carnality.
6:1-4 As Christians we are to please God. When we do anything it is for His glory. That also means we off Him the best of everything in terms of time, energy & resources. We can't pretend in front of God!